【2013考研必备】经济学人-译文赏析-6月合集.doc

欧洲面临的另一个危机经济衰退使欧洲短暂的生育高潮骤然停止Jun 30th 2012 | VIENNA | from the print edition 欧洲所面临的危机其实质远比看起来要糟糕。好像是混乱的金融市场与衰退的经济给这个大陆带来的负担还不够重似的，欧洲生育率在走了长达十年（几乎被忽视）的上坡路后又骤然停止了。到目前为止，今年已提交数据的15个国家中有 11个国家2011年的人口出生率下降（生育率指一个妇女一生中的平均生育子女数）。生育率跌幅最大国家中有一些就是受欧元危机打击最严重的国家。西班牙的生育率从2008年的1.46下降到了2011年的1.38。拉脱维亚的生育率则从1.44降到了1.20以下。维也纳人口统计学协会的托马斯索博特卡指出，这些国家前十年的生育率上升被三年的下降抵消。一些北欧国家虽然并未出现激增的失业率，也未大幅削减政府开支，但生育率跌幅仍然很大。2010年至2011年间，挪威的生育率从1.95下降到了1.88，丹麦则从1.88下降到了1.76。但是，无论是像英国那样有着高生育率的国家还是如匈牙利一般生育率低下的国家，这些国家的生育率所呈现的趋势如出一辙：受经济危机影响，生育率在上升了十年之后，于2008年前后停止上升，并从2011年起下滑（见图1）。从市场角度看，三年是一段很长的时间；从人口统计学角度看，三年不过是一眨眼的功夫。一件事的发生对人们的影响和造成的改变至少需要九个月的时间（怀胎期）才能体现在出生率上。在人口统计上也是如此，影响会滞后一年左右才体现出来。在经济衰退开始之后如此短暂的时间里能看到出生率的变化趋势是很惊人的。但是，尽管经济萧条与家庭组成存在联系，但这种联系的本质存在争议。亚当斯密认为经济的不确定性对生育率的提升有着消极的影响。但也有人认为经济衰退会降低生育孩子的机会成本，鼓励妇女在失业期间生育本来就打算要的孩子，从而提高出生率。欧洲最近的经历印证了亚当斯密的观点。经济通过移民、婚姻与出生人数这三方面影响着人口趋势。在一些国家，经济衰退驱使移民回国，这些移民的生育率较高。西班牙在上个世纪90年代晚期和本世纪初见证了一场来自拉丁美洲的移民潮。西班牙的 生育人数从1995年的363500人暴增到2008年的518500人（增加了43%），其中部分原因正是此次移民潮。但随着移民回国，出生率的增加发生了逆转，到2011年六月西班牙生育人数下降到了482700人。结婚对数的走向也同移民人数一样。1995年结婚对数为199000对，到2004年达到顶峰，为214300对。之后下跌，到2011年仅为164600对。但也并非所有的移民都选择了回国，离开英国的波兰人就相对较少。也有一些移民（如斯堪的纳维亚半岛的波罗的人）本身就来自生育率低于移民国的地区。 但在大多数有许多喜欢多生孩子的移民的国家中，经济衰退引起的逆转迁移已经导致了生育率的下降。经济衰退也同样影响到了本土公民的结婚率及出生率。如果年轻夫妇在有了固定收入后才建立家庭、养育子女，那么失业（尤其是男性失业）与家庭的形成就有了密切的联系。法国人口研究所的Prioux绘制了一张过去20多年法国失业率与 男女结合（结婚或同居）情况的图表，结果几乎就是一张完美的镜面图像（见图2）。虽然上图只研究了2002年以前的数据，但这种趋势看起来并没有停止。美国皮尤研究中心于2009年开展了一项调查，询问了美国18至24岁的公民对经济萧条所采取的反应：其中有20%的人称他们推迟了结婚年龄。索博特卡先生也绘制了拉脱维亚失业率与生育率关系的图表，他同样发现了一张镜面图像。失业率上升，出生人数便下降；工作增加，生育率就随之上升。毫无疑问，在欧洲，因经济衰退引起的移民人数、结婚人数以及出生人数的减少导致了生育率的降低。 不能肯定的是这种生育率的下降是永久性的还是暂时性的。想要降低生育率可以采取不同的方法。夫妇可以减少他们生育的子女数量，或者也可以推迟生育时间。这两种方法都能降低生育率，但后者造成的生育率降低将在不久后恢复。人口学家称之为“步调”效果。 在世界上的绝大部分地区， 夫妻想要的子女数量减少导致了生育率降低。但是，近来索博特卡先生与来自美国智囊团人口协会的约翰邦加特斯共同完成了一篇论文，文章称影响欧洲生育率的正是“步调”效果。他们指出，自1970年以来，大多数西欧国家的妇女所生的第一胎平均年龄都增加了。1970年，大多数妇女生第一胎的平均年龄为22-25岁。到了2008年，这个平均年龄则上升到了27-29岁。但从2000年到2008年，第一胎平均年龄增速明显减缓：妇女不再像以前那样推迟生育时间，其中一些人也将原先推迟生育的孩子提早纳入生育计划。现在一些国家的第一胎数量正在减少，其减少幅度大于第二胎数量的减少幅度，这意味着人们在推迟组建家庭的时间。三大显著的经验教训出现在我们面前。首先，人口趋势对经济周期的反应比人们预期的更为敏感。而人口趋势被认为是其他一切的基础（19世纪的一位法国科学家曾说“人口就是命运”）。其次，本世纪初出现的生育率上升表明并不是整个欧洲都陷于低生育率的困境中。斯堪的纳维亚半岛、英国和法国都有着较高的生育率。最后，政府的政策措施必须 留有一定余地以缓和生育率降低的状况。老式的生育政策通常都是鼓励生育的：政府会奖励那些生育许多孩子的妇女。（俄国仍旧在使用这种政策。）但这一招几乎从未有效过。但如果是人口步调 效果起作用，欧洲的生育率可能更易受政府政策的影响。政府会提供更加便宜的幼儿园或者增加诣在改善父母与孩子之间距离的亲子假期，以此激励夫妇们多要子女。如果欧洲想要在生育漩涡中避免再次遇到急转直下的状况，“适应步调的生育政策”可能是个不错的方法。词汇参考：Poles：波兰人Balts：波罗的人，波罗的海地区居民parental leave：育婴假，亲职假背景参考：生育率：/view/1463326.htm机会成本：/view/26400.htmThe etiquette of bribery贿亦有道How to grease a palm行贿指南Corruption has its own elaborate etiquette贿赂也有它自身一套复杂的准则Dec 19th 2006 | from the print editionGIVE people power and discretion, and whether they are grand viziers or border guards, some will use their position to enrich themselves. The problem can be big enough to hold back a countrys development. One study has shown that bribes account for 8% of the total cost of running a business in Uganda. Another found that corruption boosted the price of hospital supplies in Buenos Aires by 15%. Paul Wolfowitz, the head of the World Bank, is devoting special efforts during his presidency there to a drive against corruption.一旦掌权并且拥有裁量自由，不管是伊斯兰的大维齐尔，还是戍边士兵，一些人就会利用职务之便谋取私利。这个问题可能严重到足以阻碍一个国家的发展。一项研究显示，在乌干达从商行贿花费占到总费用的8%。另一项研究表明，腐败将布宜诺斯艾利斯的医疗设备的费用推高了15%。现任世界银行行长保罗沃尔福威茨（Paul Wolfowitz）正竭力打击腐败。For most people in the world, though, the worry is not that corruption may slow down their countrys GDP growth. It is that their daily lives are pervaded by endless hassles, big and small. And for all the evidence that some cultures suffer endemic corruption while others are relatively clean, attitudes towards corruption, and even the language describing bribery, is remarkably similar around the world.不过对于世界上大多数人来说，他们担心的不是腐败问题可能会拉低国家GDP的增速，而是自己日常生活中会碰到的大大小小各种不便。有证据表明，相对其他的一些文化群体来说，困扰某些文化群体的腐败问题更为普遍；但全球各地对待腐败的态度甚至用来形容贿赂的语言都极其相似。In a testament to most peoples basic decency, bribe-takers and bribe-payers have developed an elaborate theatre of dissimulation. This is not just to avoid detection. Even in countries where corruption is so common as to be unremarkable and unprosecutableand even when the transaction happens far from snooping eyesa bribe is almost always dressed up as some other kind of exchange. Though most of the world is plagued by corruption, even serial offenders try to conceal it.受贿者与行贿者已经形成了一套复杂的掩饰方法，这也证明了大多数人都为人正派这一事实。这不仅仅是为了避免事情暴露。即便是在那些腐败横行的国家，以至于腐败已经稀松平常、不会遭到起诉，就算是贿赂远离监管者的视线，人们在行贿的时候几乎都会假装在进行另外一种交易。尽管全球大部分地区饱受腐败困扰，但那些经常行贿的人仍然试图掩饰这一行为。One manifestation of this is linguistic. Surprisingly few people say: “You are going to have to pay me if you want to get that done.” Instead, they use a wide variety of euphemisms. One type is quasi-official terminology. The first bribe paid by your correspondent, in Ukraine in 1998, went to two policemen so they would let him board a train leaving the country. On the train into Ukraine, the customs officer had absconded with a form that is needed again later to leave the country. The policemen at the station kindly explained that there was a shtraf, a “fine” that could be paid instead of producing the document. The policemen let him off with the minimum shtraf of 50 hryvnia ($25).Another term widely used at border crossings is “expediting fee”. For a euphemism it is surprisingly accurate: paying it will keep your bags, and perhaps your contraband, from being dumped onto a floor and sifted through at a leisurely pace. (A related term, used in India, is “speed money”: paying it can get essential business permits issued considerably faster.)这些掩饰行为的表现之一便是行贿语言。奇怪的是，很少有人会有说：“要想搞定那件事，你得给我送钱！”相反，他们使用各种各样委婉的说法。一种是准官方的术语。笔者第一次行贿是在1998年的乌克兰，当时把钱送给了两个警察，这样笔者便能登上离开乌克兰的火车。而在开往乌克兰的火车上，海关官员还窃取了一个表格，日后离开这个国家的时候还用得上它。而车站的警察会很友善地解释，如果拿不出文档，就需要支付一笔名为shtraf（罚款）的费用。警察只收了最低的50格里夫尼亚（约25美元）就让笔者脱身了。另外一种在通关时较为广泛的说法是“快速通行费”。作为一种委婉语，这种说法相当准确：支付这笔费用，你不用上缴自己的包裹，甚至还可以拿回你偷运的东西。否则，你的包裹就会被扔到地上并受到严密检查，而检查的时间肯定是他们说了算。（在印度使用的一个相关术语叫做“提速费”：支付这笔费用以后要获得那些必要的从商许可就会快得多）。Paul Lewis, an analyst with the Economist Intelligence Unit (a sister company to The Economist), describes the quasi-business terminology typically used for bribery in the post-communist privatisations of eastern Europe. A mostly useless but well-connected insider at the company is hired as a “consultant”. The consultant is paid a large official “fee”, nominally for his industry expertise, on the understanding that he will cut in the minister and other decision-makers.保罗刘易斯（Paul Lewis）是经济学人智库（the Economist Intelligence Unit，本刊的姊妹公司）的一名分析师，他描述了一套主要用于东欧后共产主义时代私有化行贿受贿活动中的准商业术语。实际上起不到什么作用但是在行贿目标公司内人脉很广的内线往往被聘为“顾问”。该顾问会得到很大一笔名为技术咨询费的正式“费用”，前提条件是他能与部长及其他决策者分享利润。A second type of euphemism dresses up a dodgy payment as a friendly favour done by the bribe-payer. There is plenty of creative scope. Nigerian policemen are known to ask for “a little something for the weekend”. A North African term is “un petit cadeau”, a little gift. Mexican traffic police will suggest that you buy them a refresco, a soft drink, as will Angolan and Mozambican petty officials, who call it a gazoso in Portuguese. A businessman in Iraq told Reuters that although corruption there is quite overt, officials still insist on being given a “good coffee”.Double meaning can help soothe the awkwardness of bribe-paying. Baksheesh, originally a Persian word now found in many countries of the Middle East, can mean “tip”, “alms” and “bribe”. Swahili-speakers can take advantage of another ambiguous term. In Kenya a machine-gun-wielding guard suggested to a terrified Canadian aid worker: “Perhaps you would like to discuss this over tea?” The young Canadian was relieved: the difficulty could be resolved with some chai, which means both “tea” and “bribe”.另外一种委婉的说法就是行贿者把贿款称为朋友之间的赠礼以掩人耳目。而在这方面，出现了很多创新。比较有名的是尼日利亚的警察，他们会因为“周末需要些钱花”而向你索贿。在北非，这叫做“un petit cadeau”，意思是“一份小礼物”。而墨西哥的交警则会让你给他买一杯名为“refresco”的软饮料，安哥拉及莫桑比克的那些小官员也会这么说，只不过他们提到的软饮料叫“gazoso”（葡萄牙语的叫法）罢了。一位在伊拉克经商的商人告诉路透社的记者，尽管该国的贿赂现象相当公开，官员们仍然坚持说他们只需要对方给自己买一杯“好咖啡”而已。一语双关有助于缓和行贿过程中的尴尬气氛。Baksheesh原来只是一个波斯词语，现在许多中东国家都有这种说法，这个词有 “小费”、“救济金”、“贿赂”的意思。说斯瓦希里语的人则可以利用另外一个双关词。在肯尼亚，手持机枪的士兵会对吓坏了的加拿大救援人员这么说：我们是不是应该去喝杯茶，谈谈这个问题？听到这些，这名年轻的加拿大人就松了一口气：原来问题可以通过chai来解决。而chai就是“茶”或者“贿款”的意思。Brown envelopes棕色信封Along with the obscurantist language, bribe-taking culture around the world often involves the avoidance of physically handing the money from one person to another. One obvious reason is to avoid detection, which is why bribes are known as “envelopes” in countries from China to Greece. But avoidance of a direct hand-over is common even where there is no chance of detection. There will always be some officials who will take money right from a bribe-payers hands, but most seem to prefer to find some way to hide the money from view. A bribe to a border guard may be folded into a passport. A sweetener to a traffic cop is often placed in the ticket-book that is handed to the driver. Parag Khanna, who is writing a book about countries on the edge of the rich world that are trying to get rich themselves, describes a bribe-taker he spotted in Georgia who he was sure was a rookie. Why? The scrawny young soldier, forgoing any subtleties, merely rubbed his fingers together in an age-old gesture.除了有意隐晦的语言之外，全球各地的贿赂现象中，行贿者常常会避免直接将钱送到受贿者手中。很明显，这是为了避免被发现。从中国到希腊，行贿的钱都被称为“信封”。即便肯定不会被发现，行贿者也会尽量避免这么做。不过，总会有一些官员会直接接受行贿者送来的钱，但大多数受贿者似乎都更愿意想一些办法来掩饰。向边境士兵行贿的钱可能会被夹在护照里面。如果是交警的话，司机往往需要把钱放在递过来的罚单本中。帕拉格卡纳（Parag Khanna）正在写一本书，书的内容是关于那些即将进入发达国家行列同时也在努力实现这个目标的国家。他描写了自己在格鲁吉亚看到的一个索贿者，作者确定这是个新手。为什么这么说？因为这位消瘦的年轻士兵毫不掩饰，只是非常老套地搓动自己的手指头。Journalists are an obvious target for bribe-seekers. They often find themselves trying to get past bored, poorly paid guards and officials to see someone or something more important. Moreover, they are often foreignersand around the world white faces, foreign passports, foreign car number plates and a few other distinguishing features are like blood in the water for those seeking a pay-off.对于那些索贿者来说，记者是个很明显的目标。记者们经常碰到这种情况：要见到一些重要人物或者报道一些更为重要的事实的时候，要通过那些烦人的、收入不多的卫兵那一关就很困难。而且，记者往往还是外国人；在全球各地都一样，白种人、外国护照、外国车牌照及另外一些明显的特征对于索贿者来说就像水中的血一样容易辨认。A journalist for a Western newspaper in Moscow was running late for an important meeting at the Kremlin for which he had waited a long while. On his way he was stopped by the traffic police for some real or invented infraction. In a hurry, the reporter negotiated a modest bribebut found he had nothing smaller than a 1,000 rouble ($30) note in his wallet. Inspired by desperation, he agreed to pay 1,000 roubles in exchange for a ride to the Kremlin in the police car, with sirens blaring, to make sure he would be on time. The policeman tried to hold out for 1,500 roubles, but the steely nerved journalist got his ride for his offer price.西方某报纸驻莫斯科的记者正在赶去参加一个在克里姆林宫举行的重要会议，他马上就要迟到了，而为了这个参加会议他已经等了好长时间。在路上他被交警拦住了，可能是因为他真的违章了，或者是交警故意刁难他。匆忙之中，记者与交警达成了协议，结果发现他钱包里面没有比1000卢布（约30美元）面值更小的钞票了。急中生智，他同意付给交警1000卢布，不过他让交警鸣着警笛开车一路送他到会议现场，这样他就可以确保准时赶到。这位交警曾要价1500卢布，不过记者却坚持只给1000卢布，最后他们达成了协议。Inappropriate gifts不该接受的礼物Journalists can be on the receiving end of bribes, too, to ensure favourable coverage. A former Africa correspondent for The Economist says that in Nigeria, one of the worlds most corrupt countries, journalists are given hundreds of dollars in brown envelopes “for expenses” simply to attend press conferences. An ocean away, Armstrong Williams, an American columnist and television host, was paid $240,000 by the Department of Education to comment “regularly” on “No Child Left Behind”, an education-reform bill. He claimed that he was not a “journalist” but a “commentator”, but conceded that the deal had been ill-judged. Similarly, Maggie Gallagher, another conservative columnist, was paid to promote the Bush administrations “healthy marriage” programme. When challenged, she asked, “Did I violate journalistic ethics by not disclosing the contract? I dont know. You tell me.”记者也可能是受贿方，行贿方希望他们作出有偏向性的报道。一位曾为本刊工作的驻非洲记者说，在尼日利亚这个全球腐败最严重国家，记者会收到装在棕色信封里面的数百美金，而且这些钱只是他们参加记者招待会的“开销”。而在大洋彼岸的美国，阿姆斯壮威廉斯（Armstrong Williams）是一位专栏作家，同时也是电视节目主持人。教育部向其支付了24万美元，让他“定期”评论一个孩子也不能落下这项教育改革法案。他声称自己并不是“记者”，而是一个“评论员”；但是他自己也承认，他与教育部达成的那项协议有欠考虑。玛吉加拉格尔（Maggie Gallagher）是一位保守主义专栏作家，为了让她支持布什政府的“健康婚姻”计划，有人同样也给她送了好处费。当她因为这个问题受到质疑时，她答道：“我没有公开这份合同，但是这违反记者职业道德吗？我不知道，你倒是说说看这究竟违不违反职业道德”The Economist lays down clear rules for its journalists. An envelope stuffed with cash, much less a $240,000 contract, would be inappropriate. Any gift, says the policy, must be consumable in a single day. So a bottle of wine is acceptable, a case of wine is not.本刊为自己的记者制定了明确的准则。接受装有现金的信封属于不当行为，更不用说与行贿方达成24万美元的协议了。本刊的记者行为准则规定：接受的任何礼物必须能够在一天之内消费完毕。因此，一瓶酒是可以接受的，而一箱酒就不行了。Rich Westerners may not think of their societies as plagued by corruption. But the definition of bribery clearly differs from person to person. A New Yorker might pity the third-world businessman who must pay bribes just to keep his shop open. But the same New Yorker would not think twice about slipping the matre d $50 to sneak into a nice restaurant without a reservation. Poor people the world over are most infuriated by the casual corruption of the elites rather than by the underpaid, “tip”-seeking soldier or functionary.富有的西方民众可能觉得他们的社会受到腐败的影响没有那么严重。但是，不同的人对于贿赂的定义也有很大差别。一个纽约市市民看到第三世界的商人必须行贿才能保证自己的商店正常营业时，他可能会同情。但就是他自己，他并不认为在未预定的情况下为了进入一家高级饭店而偷偷塞给领班50美元算是行贿。和那些索要“小费”、收入微薄的士兵及政府的底层工作人员相比，并不缺钱的精英阶层腐败让世界各地的穷人最为恼火。Indeed, in the worlds richest economy, what many see as simple bribery is an integral part of lawmaking. In Washington, DC, it is accepted that a lobbyists generous campaign contribution to a crucial congressman may help to steer some spending to the lobbyists client.事实上，在美国这个全球最富裕的经济体中，许多人认为立法必不可少的一个组成部分就是行贿。在华盛顿特区，如果一位关键的国会议员可能帮助制定一些政策将政府支出导向说客的客户的话，那么说客向这位议员提供大量竞选资金是可以接受的。But proving corruption requires proving the intent to exchange one favour for another. Brent Wilkes, named as a co-conspirator in the bribery case of a Californian congressman, told the New York Times about a lesson he was taught early in his lobbying career: a cheque must never be handed over at the same time as a lobbying pitch is made. Much better to wait and do it in a hallway later. Proving intent in a courtroom is famously hard to do, so few such exchanges result in convictions. But many ordinary Americans are aware of what is going on. No surprise, then, that Congress is, by some measures, the least popular branch of government.但是，要证明两者存在贿赂关系需要证明行贿者有意以利换利。布伦特-威尔克斯（Brent Wilkes）曾被指控为向一位加州国会议员贿赂的同谋之一，他跟纽约时报讲述了自己早期游说生涯的学到的一条经验：支票绝对不能在游说的时候交到受贿者手中。等过一会儿之后在走廊交给他要好得多。要在法庭上证明行贿者的行贿意图相当困难，因此很少有人因为这种利益交换而被定罪。但许多普通美国民众都心知肚明。因此，从某种意义上来说，国会是民众支持率最低的一个政府机构并不奇怪。Yet corrupt practices in America and western Europe are nothing like as pervasive as in other parts of the world. There is no single cultural factor that inclines a society towards corruption, but economic factors play a big part. Most clearly, poverty and bribery go together.然而，腐败在美国和西欧远不及世界其他地方那么普遍。没有哪个单一的文化因素会导致社会中滋生腐败，而经济因素则起着更大的作用。最明显是，贫穷与贿赂总是如影随形。But which causes which? Mr Wolfowitzs crusade at the World Bank is based on the idea that corrupt countries fail to develop. But several countries in Asia have grown rapidly at a time when cronyism was common, including Indonesia and South Korea in their time. Todays most conspicuous example is China with its explosive growth. Polls consistently show that corruption is the top complaint of ordinary Chinese. From time to time the Chinese government executes particularly egregious offenders, to no apparent avail. And yet foreign investors cannot pile into the country fast enough. Although most economists agree that corruption slows development, a corrupt country is nevertheless capable of rapid growth. Countries may be corrupt because they are poor, and not the other way round.不过这两者到底谁是因谁是果呢？沃尔福威茨在世界银行开展的打击腐败行动是基于这样一个假设：腐败的国家发展不起来。但几个亚洲国家在任人唯亲现象相当普遍的时期仍然快速发展，包括高速发展期的印度尼西亚及韩国。现在最明显的一个例子当属爆炸式发展的中国。一直以来民调结果都显示，腐败是中国普通民众抱怨得最多的问题。中国政府时不时就会处决那些腐败行为令人发指的官员，但此举并未产生明显的效果。而外国的投资者都争相进入该国投资。尽管大多数经济学家都认为腐败阻碍了经济发展，然而一个腐败横行的国家仍然在快速发展。一些国家可能因为贫穷而滋生腐败，但是腐败不一定会导致贫穷。Jakob Svensson, an economist at Stockholm University, has cut through cultural stereotypes to search for hard data on corrupt economies. He has found that socialist and recently socialist economies show higher levels of corruption than others. Among the factors he has tested for correlation with corruption is the overall education level of the adult population. A second is openness to imports (measured by imports as a proportion of GDP), which is linked with opportunities for smuggling. A third is freedom of the press (as ranked by Freedom House, a civil-liberties watchdog), on the hypothesis that independent journalists will expose, and thereby curtail, corruption. The fourth is the number of days needed to start a business, a proxy for the number of permits required, and therefore red tape. Mr Svensson found clear correlations between all these variables and the overall level of corruption.斯德哥尔摩大学的经济学家雅各布斯文森（Jakob Svensson）已经从文化模式内去寻找腐败经济体的数据依据。他发现社会主义及刚从社会主义走出来的经济体要比其他国家的腐败程度更为严重。为了验证某些因素是否与腐败程度相关，他进行了若干研究。而成年人的总体受教育水平就是影响腐败程度的因素之一。第二个因素是该经济体对进口的开放程度（以进口额占GDP的比重来衡量），这一指标跟走私数量相关。第三个因素是出版自由（根据自由之家的排名，这是一家促进民主的非营利机构），假设独立记者会揭露腐败，而腐败也会因此而得到遏制。第四个因素是开办新企业需要的天数，这一数字能够反映所需的许可数目并能够从侧面看出政府手续的繁琐程度。斯文森发现，上述几个因素与总体腐败程度之间的联系非常明显。Among the many factors that determine the level of corruption in a country, one stands out. Whether it takes the shape of an American congressman dispensing a $2 trillion budget or a horde of petty officials administering a Bible-sized rulebook, where there is a lot of government, there is a lot of bribery. Corruption thus offers yet another confirmation of the dictum attributed to Thomas Jefferson that “the government is best which governs least.”在与一国腐败程度相关的那些因素中，有一个因素尤为突出。不管是一位美国国会议员制